One True Friend
by Rachel Mantegna
Summary: Riley reveals part of his past on the walk from the destroyed Charlotte to the Inuit village. Ben and Riley friendship. Non-slash. One-shot. Rated for one word that barely counts. Credit goes to Heynello for the fantastic story idea!


**A/N: Okay, here we go. Welcome to my first fanfic, One True Friend! This is my first fanfic ever so please go easy on me and don't flame. I hope you enjoy it!  
****Summary: Riley reveals part of his past on the walk from the destroyed **_**Charlotte**_** to the Inuit village. Ben and Riley friendship. Non-slash. One-shot. Rated for one word that barely counts.  
****Disclaimer: I love National Treasure. I own 2 copies of each, but I do not own the movie. Disney, Bruckheimer, Turteltaub and all those guys do.**

_Riley POV  
_Riley Poole had only ever had one true friend. Ben Gates had become his friend the minute he asked Riley to join the Templar expedition. Sure, Riley had always gotten along with Ian and his goons, but there was always something shifty about them. Riley had told Ben, but he hadn't listened; he trusted Ian. As Riley and Ben walked towards the Inuit village after _The Charlotte_ had been blown up with Ben and Riley inside, he fought the urge to tell Ben 'I told you so'. He failed.  
"Told you, Ben. Told you he'd double cross us, and you didn't believe me."  
"I know," Ben muttered, "You were right."  
Riley smiled. It was always an accomplishment when he was right and Ben was wrong. But, Riley's feeling of pride didn't last long, considering he still had 8 and ¾ miles to walk. Not to mention they still had to stop Ian from stealing the Declaration of Independence. How the hell were they supposed to do that? It's not like they could tell anyone. If they talked to the authorities, they would call them crazy. Riley wasn't even sure if he should believe himself. Their only proof was a ship that was now smoke and ashes and a pipe they didn't even have.  
"How are we going to stop them?" Riley asked the older man.  
"We go to the FBI, Homeland Security, the Archives. Everywhere we can go to stop him."  
"No one will ever believe us," Riley muttered.  
"What was that?" Ben demanded.  
"I said, no one's gonna believe us."  
"Riley, have more faith. You have to believe, or no one will believe us," Ben lectured.  
"Riley let out a small laugh.  
"You sound like a fortune cookie."  
"Yeah? Well, it doesn't matter because I'm still right."  
"Aren't you always?" Riley asked sarcastically.  
Ben gave a lopsided grin, but then became silent. Riley could tell something was bothering him. Usually Ben would've tried to retaliate, but of course he always failed.  
"What's up, Ben?" Riley asked concerned.  
"Nothing," Ben responded quickly.  
"Liar. Ben, you do not have a convincing poker face in the least."  
"It's just… Ian's been my friend for almost 8 years. I can't believe I didn't se through his act. I can't believe he's just been stringing me along this whole time," Ben confessed sadly.  
"I know, Ben. It really sucks when your supposed-friends backstab you, I know." Riley knew there was a hard edge to his voice, but he couldn't help it.  
"What do you mean you know?" Ugh. Riley should've known he'd ask. He actually sounded concerned. Riley wasn't sure if he should tell Ben. On one hand, Ben was his friend and deserved to know, but on the other hand he really didn't want Ben to know how pathetic he was.  
"Fine. I'll tell you."

_Ben POV  
_"I was never the most popular kid in school, even when I was really young. I was the dorky, smart kid with the glasses and parents who couldn't afford to buy me cool toys. When I got older, things only got harder. I started getting physically bullied. I didn't have any friends, so I spent most of my time on my computer. That's why I'm such a computer genius, you know?"  
Riley paused. Ben felt so bad for his young friend. If anyone had tried to become friends with the kid, they could've helped Riley out with the bullying problems. Riley just had such a likable personality, at least to Ben.  
"Is that it, Riley?" Ben asked softly.  
Riley let a small, nervous laugh slip between his lips. "Oh no, that wasn't the bad part. That part I could live with. I was a pretty fast runner, so I could usually get away. I had my computer and family, so I didn't mind much. The part I can't live with is high school. I did a bad thing, Ben. I don't really want to tell it, but I can't really stop there, can I?"  
Riley's voice sounded dark and completely un-Riley-like. Ben wasn't sure if he should have Riley stop because reminiscing was obviously hurting him, but maybe letting it out was good for him. Ben stayed quiet, so Riley could choose whether to tell him or not, although Ben wanted to know what this bad thing Riley did was. It couldn't have been that bad, Ben couldn't see Riley doing anything bad, even to people who were awful to him.  
"Okay, here it is. When I got into High School, things stayed the same. No friends, still being bullied, the works. But, I did volunteer in classrooms. I helped my teachers with the computer issues they couldn't do. I was top of my class and I was a student tutor. But none of these things mattered; I still had no friends. I was bullied by jocks, mostly. One day, though, the weirdest thing happened. One of the stupid football jocks came to me and asked me to hack into the database and change his science mark from a 58% to a 100% because he needed at least 65% to play on the team. I told him there was no way I was going to help him, and even if I would, changing his mark to a 100 would be stupid because he's too dumb to possibly score that high. He told me if I changed his mark, he would get everyone to stop picking on me and would make me cool. And here's when I became the stupid thing. I changed hid mark to a 67%."  
Ben was shocked. He couldn't believe Riley would do that, but he understood. All he wanted was a little appreciation, a few friends. Ben wanted to tell Riley to stop. He knew this story wouldn't have a happy ending. Ben wanted to hear the story, though, so he stayed silent waiting for Riley to continue.  
"He kept good on his promise, too. Everyone suddenly stopped bullying me. I had friends. I was sitting at the popular table with the cheerleaders and jocks. But along with my rise to popularity, I was changing more and more marks each day. I was changing marks for kids I didn't even know the names of until I hacked into their files. Report cards were delayed, as the teachers knew something was up with the marks. Soon enough, they noticed it was only the kids on sports teams whose marks were being messed with, so they cancelled all sports teams until someone came forward. Later that day, I was called down to the office. I knew what was coming. When I got down there, they asked me if I had anything to confess. I knew they were onto me and I would make it worse if I said no. So I told them the story. They told me that they had heard a different story. Apparently I had done it because I didn't like them and wanted them off the sports team. They could only prove that I was the one who did it; they didn't know which story to believe. The team got off completely clean except a few of them had a suspension from the team due to their crappy marks. I had to do an unbelievable amount of community hours, but I was told I was just lucky to have not been arrested. I also wasn't allowed on the school computers, even though I had done it all from my laptop. I had a 2-week suspension, and a year of grounding and extra chores. Thank god I was a senior and I was going to college next year. But, I was also back to being bullied and having no friends, but I'd rather have no friends than fakers who pretend to be my friend, if that makes sense."  
Ben was speechless. Riley looked like he was trying to hold back tears. Ben thought about how awful this must have been for Riley. Ben hated how they had taken advantage of him. Riley was just a naïve kid with a big heart and a loyal personality. All he wanted was respect and a few friends.  
Ben grabbed Riley by the hood and pulled him into a hug. He felt Riley stiffen, Ben knew he didn't like being touched, and now he knew it was because of the bullying he had endured. Finally Riley wrapped his arms around Ben.  
Riley pulled away and started walking again.  
"Ben, you are really my only true friend," Riley had told him seriously.  
"I know what you mean, Riley. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy, and after this Ian thing, you're really the only friend I have left. Riley, I promise I won't take advantage of you."  
"Thanks, Ben," Riley smiled a real smile, "So, how much further?"  
"8 miles," Ben told him.  
"Ugh," Riley groaned, "Do Polar Bears live up here?"  
"Yes, Riley."  
"Are you afraid of Polar Bears?"  
"No."  
"Good. So if one comes towards us, ready to rip our heads off, I'll run and you'll sacrifice yourself, right?" Ben laughed. The Riley he knew was back.

**END**

**A/N: Ooh! Riley's bad! I still love him, though. So, what did you guys think? Please review; I really want to know what everyone thinks and whether you would read more of my fanfics if I posted some. So please click that pretty green button and give me your opinion! I want truthfulness, but not so far as hating it; I would like constructive criticism.  
****Thanks!  
****_Rachel Mantegna_**


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